Winter insomnia
by The seventh cat
Summary: It's the coldest season of the year when snow and ice rule. The next day reaches its impatient fingers towards the present as night falls urging millions to sink into a peaceful slumber. But one particular chipette seems to be immune to sleep's pull.


**This time inspiration really hit me. I didn't expect to be done with another story this soon, but it just happened. The rating is just in case, don't let it scare you off. Now, observe what happens when you mix personal experience with dreams and media influence. You might be surprised…**

Disclaimer: I do not own Alvin and the chipmunks.

**Feel free to immerse in the story.**

White powder of button-sized snowflakes covered the grass gently falling from above. Trees stood tall and leafless, having the honour to first greet these welcome visitors after their long journey from the heavens. Here and there lay rose bushes well-covered by a cloak of cold cotton. Jeanette gazed out the window of her room marveling at this picturesque scene. A stack of notebooks sat in front of her on the desk slightly obscuring her view. The purple-clad chipmunk took a step forward with a happy sigh. Winter had finally left its mark this year, although later than usual.

Two chipettes entered dressed in nightwear. "Come on, Jeanette. Let's go to bed"

She reluctantly turned away from nature's masterpiece and obeyed taking off her glasses and putting them on the nightstand. Eleanor climbed onto her bed while Brittany reached for the light-switch. "Good night, girls"

"Good night" both said upon tucking themselves. Soon their sister followed. Slowly, each pair of eyes closed in expectation of tomorrow.

Outside, a light breeze drove thousands of white puffs between tree branches, above building roofs and finally led them to the wet streets where they nonchalantly dissolved into puddles of their predecessors' remnants.

The clock's hands struck eleven o 'clock. A single chipette still struggled to fall asleep, constantly twisting and turning. Rest masterfully evaded Jeanette as her conscious state stubbornly refused to give in to a much-needed nap. After twenty more minutes she stood up exasperated and put on her glasses. Darkness and silence wistfully surrounded the small animal. A street lamp sent rays of faint light into the room. Two tiny feet jumped to the ground and stopped in front of the window. The chipette didn't move for a couple of moments but simply observed. _I guess this is the perk of having insomnia during winter _she thought.

Then her attention randomly shifted to the nearby house. One room was lit which meant someone else had also stayed awake. Jeanette couldn't help wondering who that particular person was. As far as she knew, the chipmunks lived there and any of them would hardly miss out on their slumber before a school day.

Just then, without warning a curtain opened revealing another bespectacled creature. _Simon …_He looked around the white yard, the grey sky and soon spotted her. The chipette widened her eyes in amazement. Her counter-part stared unbelievingly and waved seemingly dumbstruck. Jeanette smiled at his expression and returned the gesture. For a second none knew what to do. At last, she gave a questioning gaze as to why he wasn't sleeping. Simon supposedly understood and raised a notebook with a schedule, silently asking why she was there either. The creature vanished from her place and came back holding a pillow shaking her head sadly. Her counter-part watched sympathetically. Suddenly, he smirked and went out of view. Jeanette sat there taken by surprise until a coat sleeve appeared briefly at the window. Was he going outside? Then it occurred to her. The purple-clad animal rushed to retrieve her own coat. She quickly put it on and opened the front door noiselessly. As expected, her neighbour exited the opposite building. They headed towards each other, him meeting her halfway. "Hi…"

"Hi…"

"…So, you couldn't sleep, as I gather?"

"Yeah…and you've got an unfinished science project for tomorrow because your partner forgot to do his part?"

"Oh. Um, yeah. Exactly...I thought you wouldn't guess"

"It happens to me all the time"

"Yes. We've got a lot in common..."

"...Why did you go out?"

"...I, well, I thought that, given the fact that you are awake, we could talk for a while..."

"OK...What do you want to talk about?"

"...The weather?"

"Sure. Um...it's snowing"

"Yeah. And the temperature's between minus two and zero degrees centigrade"

"Actually, I think it's plus one. Part of the snow is melting"

"Then I suppose I stand corrected" Simon chuckled.

"Maybe..." the chipette said gazing at the falling crystals. One of them playfully landed on her nose making her shiver.

"A-are you cold? Here" her companion quickly took his coat off.

"I'm not cold, it's just the snow"

"I insist that you take it. Don't worry about me, I've got a jacket underneath"

"No, no, I really-"

He silenced her swiftly placing it over her shoulders. She glanced at him and looked down. "Thank you"

"It's an honour, my lady" the chipmunk bowed in an old-fashioned manor. This made the little creature giggle. "Jeanette, I, um, actually wanted to speak to you for a reason..."

"What is it, Simon?"

"...and the way I saw you at your window exactly when I was thinking of you...it was so convenient"

"Y-you were thinking of me?"

"Yeah. And I wanted to...um...tell you something important" Now his grey eyes were peering intensely into hers.

"Y-yes...?"

"I, um, well..."

She couldn't help but notice the space between them was diminishing. He was leaning towards her. The chipette's heart skipped a beat right after plummeting to the clouds. Her head was spinning, her knees were weak. That's when Simon finally closed the distance separating both from a world where reality didn't exist and sweet dreams were all that mattered. He softly touched his lips to her icy ones. "I like you, Jeanette"

Inwards, the bespectacled animal was looking around wondering which dimension surrounded her. But at the surface, she had turned into stone. Her counter-part searched her face for any sign of emotion. "...Jeanette?" She gazed at him in shock.

"...O-oh my, Jeanette, I-I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have-!" His sentence of regret was interrupted by a tight hug rendering him speechless.

"I like you, too, Simon..."

The blue-clad chipmunk smiled in relief taken aback by the most desired and the most unexpected answer he could get, returning the embrace of his beloved. Time seemed to stop, the thousands of snowflakes froze in their places and the street lamp's light shined like the sun. For either of the two creatures this moment held the highest amount of peace and excitement possibly perceivable. Seconds turned into minutes but their hands remained still. The wind circled them finding no way to penetrate. Cold air gained speed and collided with their faces. The chipette suddenly realized vibrations were coming from her companion and carefully backed away. "You're shivering. Here. Have this back"

"No, no, I really-"

"Please" she said sincerely, fully taking off the coat and giving it to him. Simon sighed reluctantly accepting. "But now you'll be cold"

"We should get inside anyway..."

"I guess so..."

"...D-do you have chemistry tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Third period. Why?"

"Me, too...So, um, until chemistry?"

"Until chemistry..."

Both hesitated whether to leave or not. At last, he made a step, hugging her once more. "Good night"

"...Good night"

The chipmunks slowly let go of each other and headed towards their homes. Two doors closed, two pairs of feet went up two landings of stairs and two hearts filled with joy upon knowing they were not alone.

Jeanette quietly entered her room and slipped into bed. Brittany and Eleanor breathed peacefully in theirs. She stared at the ceiling for a while, musing on the past events. They would certainly become her most vivid memory of this winter. With a yawn the bespectacled animal reached for her glasses, throwing a glance at the clock. Time really had gone by completely unnoticed. But in this case it was worth it. The chipette buried her head in the pillow. Sleep agreed to pick up this late passenger on its train and was immediately off to a world similar to that she had just visited, except much less sweeter and satisfying.

Outside in the snow two trails leading their beginnings from two houses followed meandering lines, meeting at the middle. They formed unintentional strays and gaps, turns and circles on the white cover of the ground. Despite their endings each had the same result – a different tomorrow.

**Another one-shot finished. I tried to hurry up with publishing this because I knew that a few days after it had been written I'd read it, stare and get rid of it. I can't believe that this actually came from under my hand. A year ago, I would've said _I'll never ever write something like this _but today, I'm proud of my work. I put in a significant amount Bulgarian style and, as some of you might've noticed, I used a lot of British English. I like American and it even seems more natural to me, but I'm just used to British. I truly hope to receive as many reviews as possible, but if you don't have the will and time, it's alright. That's about it. I'll be going now. Farewell and until our next encounter.**


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